Heat exchanger means



Aug. 11, 1959 c. A. MCKINNEY 2,898,896

HEAT EXCHANGER MEANS Filed Nov. 21, 1955 INVENTOR.

HEAT EXCHANGER MEANS Cecil A. McKinney, Birch Run, Mich., assignor to General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Delaware Application November 21, 1955, Serial No. 548,025

3 Claims. (Cl. 123-4133) This invention relates to engines having fluid cooling systems and more particularly to engines having means associated with their fluid cooling system for heating or cooling lubricant fluids or the like used by such engines ordeyices connected thereto.

-Ya:rious means and devices have heretofore been employed with fluid-cooled engines forcooling engine and transmission lubricating fluids. These devices have usually. included heat exchanger means supplied with cooling fluid coming directly from the radiator of the engine fluid cooling system.

While such devices may adequately cool the fluids they receive after they have become heated, they also cool rather than heat the fluids they receive during that relatively short warm-up period and during extremely cold weather when the fluid received is already too cold and viscous to lubricate or operate properly. Failure to heat engine lubricants in the warm-up period may result in engine wear or improper operation of the transmission or other accessories receiving such fluids.

It is now proposed to provide novel heat exchanger means that will not only adequately cool fluids received after it has become heated, but will also heat the oil more quickly during the critical warm-up period. Such means include a fluid cooling system manifold receiving cooling fluid directly from the engine cylinder heads prior to its return to the engine radiator. In this manner, the cooling fluid which is quickly warmed up by the operation of the engine may in turn quickly warm the oil.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary front elevational view, with portions thereof broken away and in cross-section, of an engine having oil heating or cooling means embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary enlarged top plan view, with portions thereof broken away and in cross-section, taken on the plane of line 2-2 of Figure 1 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 3 is a still further enlarged cross-sectional view taken on the plane of line 33 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, an engine having a block 12 and heads 14 has mounted thereon a manifold 16 having a hollow central body portion 18 and end conduit portions 20 communicating with the hollow body portion.

The conduit portions 20 may be integral with or separate from the body portion 18 and the free ends thereof are secured by any suitable means such as bolts 22 to the heads 14 so that the passages 24 in the conduits 20 communicate with the cooling water outlet passages 25 through which cooling fluid such as water circulating through the heads 14 leaves the heads. From the heads 14 the water may pass through the manifold 16 to the usual engine cooling system radiator (not shown) by way of a central conduit 26 which may be located at the top of the body 18. The usual thermostat 28 for controlling the flow of cooling water through the mani- Sta tes Pat f 'l fold 16 may be located in the manifold housing 30. The conduit 26 may be detachably secured to the housing 30 in order that the thermostat 28 may be inserted therein."

Cooling water is received from the radiator through the inlet conduit 32 leading to the pump 34 and is moved into both sides of the cylinder block 12 through, outlet passages provided in the pump housing and in.

communication with inlet passages 33 in the block.

A multi-fin heat exchanger 36 is disposed within the manifold body 18 in spaced relation to the inner surfaces of the body'to provide a substantially unobstructed flow with those of conduits 20 about the exchanger.

nication with the chamber 45 provided within the heat exchanger. I

One end of the body 18 is provided with a cover 42 secured by bolts 44 so that the heat exchanger 36 may be inserted through the open end of the body 18. Flanges 46 on the members 38 engage the bosses 48-1 so that the passages 50 through the bosses 48 are aligned; with the threaded passages 52 in the members 38. The;

securing bolts 54 having axial passages 56 are passed through the passages 50 and threaded into the threaded passages 52 to secure the exchanger 36 to the inside of the body 18. Seals 64 prevent the leakage of oil or water from the heat exchanger and manifold. A sealing or other washer means 66 may also be provided between the internally threaded heads 68 of the bolts '54 and the external bosses 69. Flared conduits 70 may be secured to the usual manner within the heads 68 by means of locking nuts 72.

The conduits 70 are interchangeable as inlet and outlet passages to provide a flow of fluid to be cooled through the chamber 45 of exchanger 36. The circulated fluid may be the engine lubricating oil, transmission oil, or any other fluid that it is necessary to warm-up or cool. The conduits 70 thus lead to any device having such fluid to provide a closed fluid circuit.

So long as the engine is in operation, engine cooling fluid will flow from the pump to the cylinder block, through the block and into the heads, through the heads and into the manifold at either end thereof, through the manifold around the heat exchanger and out of the top of the manifold into the radiator, downwardly through the radiator and back to the pump. Also, oil or other fluid to be cooled will flow from the device containing the fluid to be cooled to the heat exchanger through one of the conduits, through the heat exchanger and back to the device through the other of the conduits.

During the engine warm-up period, and particularly in cold weather, the engine coolant heated in the cylinder heads flows directly to the heat exchanger manifold to heat the colder lubricant before it has itself had an opportunity to become warmed. This is particularly true of that portion of the lubricant fluid located in the heat exchanger when the engine is started. The lubricant will thus circulate and lubricate or operate more efficiently sooner than it would if the water supplied to the manifold came directly from the engine cooling radiator.

After the lubricant fluid itself has become heated above cylinder head water temperature, the lubricant will thereafter be cooled. The thermostat acts in the usual manner to control the rate of heating or cooling of the lubricant or other fluid flowing through the heat Patented Aug. 11, 1 ,5

2,898,896 3 4 exchanger by the control of coolant flow in the engine 3. Heat exchanging means comprising a manifold hav cooling system. ing an inlet at either end and an outlet located centrally Iclaim: thereof, said manifold receiving cooling fiuid from an 1. In heat exchanger means for use with an engine having a pair of longitudinally extending cylinder heads having coolant outlets and an engine cooling system circulating coolant from said cylinder heads to a radiator, a transversely extending manifold connected with said cylinder head coolant outlets and said radiator, said cylinder head coolant outlets being connected to either end of said manifold, said manifold radiator connection being positioned centrally of said manifold, and heat exchanging mechanism within said manifold for heating and cooling fluid in a second system.

2. Heat exchanging means for heating and cooling a circulating oil system associated with an internal combnstion enginehaving a cooling system including a pair of cylinder head coolant outlets and a radiator interconnected therewith, said means including a manifold in said engine cooling system, said manifold being positioned in said engine cooling system intermediate said engine cylinder head coolant outlets and said radiator and having inlets and an outlet, said inlets being at either end and connected with said cylinder head outlets, said outlet being intermediate said ends, a heat exchanger internallymounted in said manifold in spaced relation thereto and extending the length of said manifold and supported therein by a heat exchanger inlet and a heat exchanger outlet, said heat exchanger inlet and outlet being respectively adjacent the ends of said manifold.

internal combustion engine and transmitting said fluid to a radiator, an access opening in one end of said manifold, an access plate closing said opening, a multiple fin heat exchanging elementpositioned within said manifold and inspaced relation therewith, said access opening providing access to said element, inlet means and outlet means connecting said element with a fluid system separate from said engine cooling system, said inlet and outlet connection means acting as the only support for said element within said manifold and respectively being positioned adjacent said manifold inlets.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

